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[treading_dawn]

The moon is bright this evening, starlight muffled by its light.

And out of the forest comes a matching light, softening as it emerges from the trees.

The Lion is out and about tonight, walking the boundaries of this place.

Walking, and watching, and waiting for someone very dear to him.

There are a great many to choose from.

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[treading_dawn]

"And visiting an old friend. I know."

His voice is very gentle, now, rumbling softly in his chest.

"It brings you no joy?"

[called_lioness]

She's silent for a long time.

"When I dream, it does. When I wake, I'm...troubled."

[treading_dawn]

"And what is it that causes you such disquiet, dear heart?"

This, too, is something he already knows. But some things must be spoken to be understood.

[called_lioness]

"Because I don't think that they're just dreams," she murmurs, "and I am so tired, Aslan, since Adam took it back."

[treading_dawn]

"So many gifts are two-edged, and those of the Son of the Morningstar no less than those of any other man."

There is the faintest hint of a growl in his voice. Then it fades.

"Do you regret refusing it?"

[called_lioness]

"No." Quietly. "I wish I could have kept it. I wanted to. So badly. But I'm not sorry that I didn't. It wouldn't have been a life with Caspian. It--wasn't worth it."

[treading_dawn]

"Then the weariness would seem to be something that must be borne, at least for a time. It, too, will pass, as all things seem to."

He is still very quiet, but there is a sternness in his golden eyes.

"All but a few."

[called_lioness]

"And what happens when it passes?" she asks and doesn't expect an answer. Not really.

"What doesn't, beyond love and you?" Lucy murmurs, finally, looking up at him.

There might, really, be no difference between the two, in the end, she thinks, and there might not need to be anything else.

[treading_dawn]

"I am not in the habit of telling endings, child. But they will come, and when you pass beyond them you will know the answer to more questions than you have ever thought to ask."

The glow around him is brighter now, though still muted by the dark and the moon.

Not all things are a competition.

[called_lioness]

"Will I have to leave soon?" she asks, finally. "Or is that another ending I have to go through to find out?"

Because she may not expect an answer, but it's not always a reason not to ask.

[treading_dawn]

"Oh, dear heart, that one is not an ending at all."

The glow is brighter yet, now, but only in his eyes, big and solemn and golden, like two tiny suns.

[called_lioness]

She thinks that she was right when she told Alanna she'd never understand gods' ways.

But she's smiling, and neither worry seems so very bad now. Not answered, or gone, but they can be borne.

"Thank you," she says, and though there's no one next to her any longer, she smiles more widely to feel warm breath against her cheek.

Or maybe it's the wind.